Dead and Gondola by Ann Claire

Series Name: Christie Bookshop Mystery #1
Genre: Cozy
Release: November 1, 2022

In this series debut, a mysterious bookshop visitor dies under murderous circumstances, compelling the Christie sisters and their cat, Agatha, to call on all they’ve learned about solving mysteries from their favorite novelist.

Ellie Christie is thrilled to begin a new chapter. She’s recently returned to her tiny Colorado hometown to run her family’s historic bookshop with her elder sister, Meg, and their beloved cat, Agatha. Perched in a Swiss-style hamlet accessible by ski gondola and a twisty mountain road, the Book Chalet is a famed bibliophile destination known for its maze of shelves and relaxing reading lounge. At least, until trouble blows in with a wintry whiteout. A man is found dead on the gondola, and a rockslide throws the town into lockdown—no one in, no one out.

The victim was a mysterious stranger who’d visited the bookshop. At the time, his only blunders had been disrupting a book club and leaving behind a first-edition Agatha Christie novel, written under a pseudonym. However, once revealed, the man’s identity shocks the town. Motives and secrets swirl like the snow, but when the police narrow in on the sisters’ close friends, the Christies have to act.

Although the only Agatha in their family tree is their cat, Ellie and Meg know a lot about mysteries and realize they must summon their inner Miss Marple to trek through a blizzard of clues before the killer turns the page to their final chapter.

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Dru’s Short Musing:
This was such a fun book to read where the Christie sisters engage in amateur sleuthing to find out why the mysterious stranger was murdered.

With mischief and mayhem abound, this well-written and evenly paced whodunit immediately grabbed my attention and of course with a name like Christie and a cat named Agatha, how could you not like this debut series. The author did a great job in presenting this multi-plot story with a nice set of suspects, while tossing in a few clues to keep things interesting with the perfect backdrop of bookshop which set the tone and gave this book a comfortable atmosphere for murder. There were a few red herrings, one I did not see coming, that kept me on my toes and added to how well this story was being told. I love the quirkiness of the family members and Agatha. Again, this was a delightfully entertaining read, and I can’t wait to see where we go next with the Christie sisters and their friends.

FTC Full Disclosure – I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher.